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Celebrate Intl Whale Shark Day and Join our Shark 101 live Webinar
August 30, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
JOIN US FOR A FREE SHARK 101 LIVE ZOOM ON INTERNATIONAL WHALE SHARK DAY, AND LEARN HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY SCIENCE!
Click to Join 6PM PDT/August 30
The Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish in the world, but they are disappearing from sight.
At up to 61 feet (18 m) whale sharks can be found in all temperate and tropical oceans around the world with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea. One of the only three species of sharks that filter their food including the megamouth shark and the basking shark, whale sharks diet consists almost exclusively on plankton and larvae. These slow swimming surface dwelling sharks migrate thousands of miles to separate feeding grounds.
Download a free whale shark fact sheet.
These sharks can process more than 1500 gallons of water an hour through their gills filtering small shrimp, fish, and plankton through modified their gill rakers. While feeding, whale sharks open their gaping mouths and sweep move head from side while opening and closing their gills to rid excess of water and create suction.